You’re excited, get up early make sure you haven’t forgotten anything and get in the car. En Route for [fill in the blank]. Haven’t had breakfast yet? No problem, there’s always a rest stop around…

We all know the nutritional dangers that road-trips can bring, and sometimes packing a cooler with healthy meals just doesn’t seem right. So when facing the Golden Arch and its fellow competitors, you CAN get something healthy but still get that special occasion feeling.

In a nonstick skillet over med-high heat, cook salmon skin-side down for 5 minutes. Flip salmon and add artichokes and dill to pan. Remove salmon skin with fork, discard, and cook salmon and artichokes for another 5 minutes or until flaky. Flake salmon with fork while still in skillet. Transfer salmon-artichoke mixture to a bowl.

Wipe skillet clean and return to med-high heat. Add 1/4 tsp oil and spread around skillet. Place first tortilla in skillet and cook for 1 min. per side and set aside. Place second tortilla, cook for 1 minute, flip, then turn heat down to med-low. Spread 1 wedge of cheese *minus a little bit) on tortilla; add about 3/4 cup of salmon mixture; 2 Tbsp tomatoes; 2 Tbsp scallions; and 1/4 cup spinach. Spread rest of cheese on 1st tortilla and place on top. Flip carefully and cook for one more minute pressing down with spatula. Turn heat back up and repeat for 2nd quesadilla.

Let cool for a few minutes then cut each into 6 wedges. Serve with Greek Yogurt and salsa. Enjoy!– Recipe from Clean Eating Magazine

* Instead of making two big quesadillas I made 3 smaller ones (3 servings) along with a salad for a light lunch.

Last night Cleveland was hit by a HUGE thunder storm (at least by Northeast Ohio standards) with hail the size of a quarter! We just drove through the main street of Lakewood this morning and trees were down with everyone trying to clean up and assess the damages. Just a reminder that nature is a powerful thing…

On a different note, I posted a poll yesterday on comfort foods and here it is again. I’d love to have your input! Just so you know it has a purpose…

I was reading an article that Kelly posted and it made me want to share this with you. I don’t know if it’s ethically correct, but I’m still gonna do it!

Remember when I asked the QUESTION whether or not you believe in the childhood obesity epidemic? All of you answered positively and truly believed that something must be done and supported the programs already in movement.

Well, I asked a similar question (what do you think of the whole obesity talk) but on a different blog, with a very different demographic and I got some very SHOCKING answers.

” I think the media tends to make a big deal out of things just to make good stories. Recent case in point – the H1N1 scare, just for one example.”

“Most of that is just garbage. Americans, and others, are easily fooled by the fat scam. People judge health on looks and companies cash-in on this fact. It really is NOT about BEING healthy, it is about LOOKING healthy.”

“There is no epidemic, however there are BILLIONS of dollars working hard to scare you into their waiting arms”

Then I posted the speech Michelle Obama gave in support to the cause… Here are the reactions:

“How do you give working parents more time? How do you make healthier food more affordable? Build more health food stores (with what money?) and allow them to accept food stamps for the poor?”

“I think the studies that link general obesity with disease are skewed in many ways”

“I think there are 100 other things that this administration should be worried about other than childhood obesity. I’m sick of the government stepping in and trying to parent our kids.”

So I was very surprised when I read those comments, because I thought EVERYONE would support this cause 100%. But that’s the reality of things. And if we want to change anything (childhood Obesity?) we need to understand both sides of the issue.

Does that surprise you? What do you think? Knowing that, do you think different strategies should be put in place to counter the “obesity epidemic”?

Accompanied by a very simple spinach-mango salad with white-wine vinegar & poppy seeds homemade dressing, it was VERY good!
Sadly the picture of the actual food looks more like a blob covered in cheese, (and I thought of taking the picture AFTER we destroyed it…) but if you really want to see it, here…

Sorry for the lack of Monday Healthy Recipe, it’s just been plain craziness these past few days. I’ll post one soon.

This weekend has definitely not been the healthiest, since I was hosting (with my boyfriend) the Superbowl party and made (w/o my boyfriend ;-)) tons of food… I’ll have to share a couple of those recipes eventually, because they were delicious. The menu was made of 7-layer dip, pigs in a blanket and wrapped in bacon, meatballs, danish-cheesecake type of thing (out of this world!), chocolate fondue for which I made pound cake along with fruits, etc. So of course I had to try everything (more than once!) and there was a lot of beer involved too, but it was a blast!